Affordable housing has again come to a centre stage with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement to launch affordable rental housing complexes for migrant workers and urban poor under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY). Realty industry players assert that FM’s move will help the construction sector to restart operations but want to wait for the assessment of the overall impact on the sector only after further announcements for infrastructure development and for demand augmentation.
Knight Frank India CMD Shishir Baijal said today’s announcement has re-emphasized the government's agenda of promoting affordable housing and housing for all. “The extension of the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) for another year will help demand for the affordable housing sector to inch back as and when the economy starts to revive. However, for the demand for housing to return, irrespective of the category, the economy must start growing at a stable rate providing individuals financial security,’’ he noted.
IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Ashish Vaid observed that FM’s announcement under the public-private participation (PPP) mode through a concessionaire agreement will be incentivizing state, central government and corporates in providing such accommodations.
CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee observed that the availability of free food grains, concessional rental housing complexes are expected to alleviate their stress by providing them with some succour in the current challenging scenario. “The measure to extend CLSS for the middle-income group is expected to give a boost to the all-important housing sector which has a significant multiplier impact on the rest of the economy,’’ he opined.
ANAROCK Chairman Anuj Puri said the government’s push for affordable housing has been unmistakable in the last six years. It's Housing for All by 2022 project has already resulted in multiple sops and incentives. As a consequence, there has been a significant increase in activity in the affordable segment over the last few years. “As per ANAROCK research, there is currently 15.62 lakh under-construction units across the top 7 cities, of which nearly 39% are in the affordable segment priced Rs 40 lakh budget,’’ he added.
